


Seasons of Love

by ThePackWantstheD



Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, F/M, Family, Family Fluff, Football, Friendship, GUYS, Gen, M/M, One-Sided Relationship, Past Child Abuse, Sexual Harrassment, Sign Language, Teen Angst, Teen Romance, implied Teenagers having sex, minors blowing up science experiments, minors handling guns, mute character, psycho in denial, seriously i promise this is a happy fic ok, teen!Cast, very touchy platonic friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-01
Updated: 2013-06-01
Packaged: 2017-12-14 08:24:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/834769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePackWantstheD/pseuds/ThePackWantstheD
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No matter what season it is, they’re there for each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Boys of Fall

**Author's Note:**

> So this will be a four part Teens!cast story taking place over a year, each part focusing on a different group of Yogs (This one is Sjin, Xephos, Honeydew, and Strippin in the fall!).
> 
> Can also be found at: 
> 
> http://thepackwantsthed.tumblr.com/post/51694444167/seasons-of-love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xephos comes back from Science camp, Strippin plays football, Sjin and Sips go Trick or Treating, and Honeydew gets bullied by Lomadia.

**Boys of Fall**

* * *

"What are you doing when we get off?" questioned Lalna, sprawled across two of the bus seats.

There were only a few students left on the bus at this point in their journey back from science camp, two of which Xephos knew had another hour before they would be let off, so both boys had placed their duffels under their heads and laid down comfortably.

Over the tops of his shoes, Xephos could just see Lalna's green shoelaces but the blonde's face was hidden from him by a mixture of things. He stared up at the white ceiling of the bus before saying, "I'm not sure. I imagine Honeydew will be there to pick me up."

Lalna gave a soft laugh, "You must be glad to see him again, having put up with me all month."

Xephos hummed, letting his eyes drift shut. He thought about the past month with Lalna, connecting wires and snapping goggles and being knocked by the occasional force of a blow torch or jumping to avoid a blast of chemical to the face. He thought about the months before that with Jaffa Cakes and silly movie references and throwing popcorn in theaters.

"It's pretty hard to pick one," Xephos said after a moment.

Lalna just hummed on the other side of the bus.

The boys zoned out for a minute before the screeching of tires and sudden stop threw them forwards. Xephos' head knocked painfully against the seat in front of him as he went tumbling to the floor.

He heard Lalna groan as the bus doors screeched open and the driver called out, "Come on boys. Minecraftia High School."

Pulling themselves from the ground they grabbed their backpacks from the racks over head and then swung their duffels over their shoulders.

"So do you wanna-" Xephos began saying as he stepped off the bus, intent on asking Lalna if he wanted to grab lunch only to be cut off.

"Welcome back!" A chorus of voices screamed and there was the popping of streamers.

"What the..." Lalna murmured, looking up. The bus screeched behind them as it disappeared.

Xephos stared at ahead where all of their friends were gathered with large smiles on their faces. He wondered how neither of them had noticed the set up of sixteen other kids, a grill, and the food and coolers set up on the schools outdoor lunch tables.

"Guys you didn't have to do this," Xephos said finally, stepping towards them.

"No," Zoeya agreed, a large smile on his face as she stepped forward to hug him. He returned the embrace cheerfully, lifting her up and spinning her around. The giggle she let out was happy and free and reminded him of nights spent texting about plots to make Rythian and Lalna stop being idiots. When he set down she finished, "but we missed you and waiting the week until school started was just a ridiculous idea."

There was a blur of tee-shirts and murmurs for a few seconds for a while before Sips pulled away from Xephos, noticing the strange look on his face.

"Hey bastard, what's up?" the other boy questioned.

Xephos chewed on his cheek for a minute before saying, "Where's Honeydew?"

"I didn't wanna ruin another one of your shirts." The voice was weak as Xephos turned around to meet it. Honeydew was standing behind him, his eyes watery with tears.

"Oh you big dumby," Xephos sighed, reaching for him. He hugged his best friend tightly as he wailed into his shirt. "You've ruined so many since I've started going to camp that I wouldn't really be home until you do."

* * *

Strippin bounced on the field, hopping back and forth to keep himself moving between plays. Aderline was pumping through him as it always did in games like this one - good games where his legs ached at half time because he needed to work so much harder then nromal to make it.

He glanced up at the stands as he waited.

Through the lines in his face guard he could make out his friends figures. Together the sixteen of them has taken up the first few rows in the front center, there was no doubt in his mind that at least one of them had been there since warm ups to make sure they got front seats.  
He could see Zoey sitting in Lomadia's lap, the blonde laughing at whatever joke the redhead was telling, and Rythian had shuffled towards Lalna for warmth despite his usual reverence towards PDA. Lalna had taken advantage of it though, pulling Rythian tight into his side and wrapping an arm around his shoulders to keep him there.  
He could see Benji standing on the bleachers. Strippin could guess that his brother had been cheering the whole play, but now his hands were moving rapidly in signs as he spoke to Teep. Sjin could be seen just barely behind Benji's legs, a look on his face implying he was ready to dart forward and catch the albino even though he was speaking to Xephos.  
Strippin scanned farther, finding Martyn and Sparkles sharing headphones. They were swatting Toby away as he tried to grab one. Martyn looked up, a large smile on his face, and saw Strippin looking at him.

He wagged three things at him, a gesture that made Strippin smile as he raised his hand to return the gesture.

"Come on, ninety-two," one of the upper classmen on the team declared, patting him on the back. "Back into position."

Shrugging at Martyn, he turned back and got in line. The breath of his teammates and the members of the other team right across from his rung in his ears.

The whistle blew.

Strippin pushed off, ducking easily between the other players. Despite his muscle and padding, Strippin was still one of the smallest built people on the field.  
He could hear the crowds screaming despite the pounding in his ear but it didn't extend to next to him. He was down before he fully registered the grunt the defender let out.  
He hit the ground, a sickening crack resounding before he opened his mouth and screamed.

The pain pounding through his arm was unlike any he had felt before. It pulsed through him, ripping out of him in his screams, and he could feel the blood pooling in his uniform but it hurt to much to move.

Sounds mixed together for the most part but he could hear Benji screaming at Sjin to let him go and Sjin screaming back that he shouldn't see this.

"Strippin," Rythian's voice was soft. Despite the pain all over Strippin and the screams still coming from his mouth, he found it comforting like always. "There's an ambulance on it's way."

"Rythian I can't-" there was a sound like retching following Zoeya's voice.

Strippin went cold for a second, thinking Rythian would leave him, but there was the smack of lips against someone's forehead before Rythian said, "Go with Lalna. I'll ride to the hospital with him. Take care of Benji."

* * *

Sjin burrowed deeper into his jacket as he walked down the street. 

The glow from the jack-o-lanterns and porch lights illuminated the street, laughter from the other kids on the street adding to the warm feeling the suburb gave off.

"Hey," Sips' voice was rough from shouting at his sisters, Lucia and Uthgerd, as they walked ahead of them with their candy bags. The eight and ten year old were dressed up as Hello Kitty and her sister, despite Uthgerd's request to be Iron Man this year she was as incapable of denying Lucia something as Sips.

Sjin hummed, looking over at the other boy, "What is it?"

"Is everything okay? You've been quiet the past few days."

"Yeah," Sjin ran his tongue across his lips as he spoke, the words coming out strange. When he didn't feel the shorter boys gaze leave him after a few steps, he sighed. Scratching at the beard he'd began to grow, he said, "It's just that Benji's refused to talk to me since Strippin broke his arm. It's been a month and I was just trying to save him from seeing his brothers bones poking out of his skin."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Sips declared, popping out his cheeks as he took a deep breath. He called ahead of them, telling the girls to make a right turn. "Don't let Benji being a punk make you think there is. That was disturbing for all of us and Benji wouldn't have been able to handle it. Fuck, Honeydew couldn't even handle it. Xephos told me Honeydew spent that weekend at his house because he was having nightmares."

"I think all of us did," Sjin murmured.

The two boys walked in silence for a while before Sjin noticed Sips hand patting against his thigh. Recognizing the twitch he sighed, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out the carton of cigarettes stored there.  
He held a stick in front of Sips face as he normally did and waited until he felt Sips mouth latch around it before pulling away.

"God damn, I don't know why you carry these around," Sips grumbled as he took the candy cigarette from his mouth. Despite the complaint, he held the thing between two fingers as he would his actual cigarettes as he brought it back to his lips.

Sjin smiled a bit, "If it keeps my best bud from killing himself before we get the chance to get wrinkly then I don't mind the occasional dollar or two."

Sips didn't say anything for a minute before he said, "Your already getting a little wrinkly, Sjin."

"Like your any better, Sipsy," Sjin laughed. Even as Sips joined in, his voice light and genuine, Sjin wondered why he had paused.

* * *

Honeydew was about to reach up to grab one of his books when his locker slammed shut.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "I needed to get my stuff for History!"

"Nope," Lomadia drawled, popping her P. She was flattened mostly against his locker, blocking his way in, but rocking on her heels.

She didn't say anything else, prompting him to question, "Well why can't I grab my stuff for History?"

"I'm glad you asked, Honeydew." She searched around her pocket before producing four tickets and saying, "I got advanced copies of a new horror games. We're gonna grab Zoey and Nilesy and skip the rest of school to play."

"There's only two class periods left..."

"Exactly so no one will miss us," Lomadia sung. She grabbed Honeydew's arm, linking them together as she pulled him towards Zoey's locker. "We'll just go pick the game up and then play my copy at my house for a bit before you guys go home."

"'Madia," he whined, "why are we doing this? You're the only one of us who likes this kind of games."

"Yes but you guys are at least fun when you watch me play them. Xephos just gets mad at me when I miss something and no one else gets quite as scared as Nilesy."

Honeydew groaned, "There's something very wrong with you."

"Darling, that may be but you're still playing this game with me."

"I know," he sighed. "It's impossible to get away from you."

Lomadia threw her head back, laughing, "I'd love to hear Xephos' reaction to that."  
  


 


	2. Peppermint Winter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teep gives Benji the lowdown, Ridge and Lomadia kick some scum ass, Zoey gets her nails painted and tells Rythian off or being a dumb dumb at the same time, Winter fucks with Martyn and Toby's duo powers, and Minty loves working at the Captive Creeper Coffeeshop.

**Peppermint Winter**

* * *

Teep tapped Benji on the shoulder as he sat down at his seat.   
Benji looked up from the math homework sprawled across the desk, covered in scribles of numbers and letters and crossed out equations. A smile bloomed across his face as he held up his hand.   
Teep watched his hands carefully as Benji formed the signs. He didn't understand why Benji always signed to him, he could hear him just fine. It was only his voice that had left during Lalna's experiment all those years ago.   
It was nice though, to have someone he could sign quickly with as opposed to typing out a text message or writing it down.

[Teep! Hey. Do we have any homework from Brit Lit?]

[Hello. Read chapters 3-4.] Teep signed back. He took a small breath, looking around the room before focusing back on Benji. It would be better to discuss the issue now then to leave it hanging around the group any longer. [You know, Sjin was right in what he did. You wouldn't have been able to handle seeing Strippin like that.]

When Benji's smile dropped, Teep's stomach went with it. Frowns were so uncharacteristic on Benji's face that it was hard not to feel horrible when you were the one who had placed it there. After a moment, Benji lifted his hands. [I know I wouldn't have been able to handle it, okay? But I should have been there for Strippin.]

This he could work with, this he knew how to do. Teep scooted his chair closer to Benji, resting his left hand on his thigh. Benji's eyes were watery, and Teep had to swallow hard to keep himself in place instead of diving forward to hug the other. [What matters is that Rythian, that all of us, were there for Strippin. Benji you may be the only one related by blood but you're not Strippin's only brother, you know? And he's not your only one. All of us are always gonna be there for you guys so don't act like you have to take on all the responsibility okay?]

Benji's voice was soft as he whispered, "I'll go talk to Sjin after class."

Teep smiled a bit. He glanced quickly around the class room before leaning forward to press his lips to Benji's forehead.

He caught a glimpse of the flaming red on the others cheeks before the teacher walked it.

* * *

Ridge whistled as he walked down the hall. 

Skipping Calculus was easy when the teacher was always late and had heard the stories about him, most of which were false - exaggerated tales of what had really happened with no explanation of what the victim had done to deserve it.   
He didn't really care if he had a reputation as some kind of heartless bastard, his friends knew it wasn't true.

He was approaching his locker, intent on grabbing his phone from inside and then walking down to the library to work on his program for the marble sorter he was creating in Tech II, when he spotted a familiar form down the hallway.

A grin spread across his face as he changed his path to jog over. He opened his mouth, ready to shout hello when he noticed another by the girl.

For a split second he wondered why he had never noticed the larger form hanging over her but chalked it up ultimately to him having simply zoned in on the familiar green of her hat.

"Come on Lo," the man was drawling, his voice dripping with sleazy flirtation that made Ridge cringe. "Just come out with me once. I promise we'll have a fun time."

"No thank you." Ridge could hear her practically grinding her teeth. "I've been telling you for months that I'm not interested. I'm perfectly happy with never being in the same room as you."

"Aw baby come on don't be like that."

Seeing his hand move towards her, Ridge shouted out, "Lomadia!"

Both of their heads snapped towards him. Something like relief settled in hers while fear took over his.

"Ridgedog," Lomadia greeted. When he took a step towards them, the other mans hands dropped as he took a step back. "Why aren't you in class?"

"I could ask you the same," he answered. Taking another step, he delighted in the way the man kept stepping back as he addressed him, "Was there something you needed with Lomadia?"

"N-no," came the weak reply.

Ridge smiling at him only seemed to make his fear more apparent. "Then leave. Now. Before I decide to stab you with a fork too." As the boy scrambled away Ridge found himself glad that Sips had placed the blame on him for that for the first time in his life. Afterwards he turned to see Lomadia looking at him with a strange look in her eyes, "What? Are you afraid of me now too, 'Madia."

She shook her head, "Of course not. You know I could have handled that myself, right?"

"Obviously."

She stepped towards him, grabbing onto his arm and looping hers through it. As they walked down the hall she added, "Could you not tell Xephos about that?"

"Lo..." Ridge murmured quietly, looking over at her.

"He'll do something stupid. You know he's kinda shit at fighting. He's a skinny science nerd, Ridge. Tell Strippin or Sips if you want just..." Lomadia trailed off.

After a long moment he nodded, "Fine. I won't tell anyone. I was planning on dealing with it myself anyway."

"Ridge, the aslyum is running out of rooms."

"Nonsense. They'll simply have to build more."

* * *

Zoey wiggled her toes as Panda uncapped her nail polish.

Nilesy sat next to the boy, examining the other cases. After a minute he held up two bottles of green polish, "So what's the difference between Forest Green and Grass Green? They look the exact same."

"Who knows," Panda drawled. A giggle erupted from Zoey's mouth as he moved her foot into his lap. "Do you think I know a ton about nail polish Niles?"

"You are the one painting my toe nails," Zoey pointed out.

Panda swatted her ankle, "Shush or you'll be painting them yourself."

"Big words from a guy wearing Panda ears," Nilesy teased, reaching up to flick one of the ears on Panda's headband.

Panda just huffed as he brought the dark red paint to Zoey's nails, starting with her pinkie. Before Zoey could interject anything, her phone rang out Toybox's Best Friend.

Careful not to move her feet, reluctant to have the paint on her skin or kick Panda in the face, she reached for it and brought it to her ear.

"Rythian!" she greeted right away.

"Hello Zoey," he responded, his voice soft and fond like always. "What are you up to?"

"Having a sleepover with Nilesy and Panda! I'm making them paint my toenails." His laughter on the other end made her smile even brighter. "What about you? I thought you would be getting ready for your date with Lalna about now?"

"Driving to his house." Rythian paused for a second before saying, "Zoey...We're never been on a real date before."

Zoey let out a small sound as she realized what Rythian was trying to tell her. "Oh silly boy," she giggled, "you don't have to be nervous about it. You already got him to agree to leave his lab, clearly he loves you."

"I didn't-" He stopped before saying, "I didn't say that..."

"But I know you well enough to know what you meant. We've been together since before we could walk, Ryth."

Rythian was silent for a minute before murmuring, "Zoey, what if he doesn't have any fun? What if he realizes how boring I am?"

She gasped, kicking away from Panda accidently. The startled boy lost his balance and fell off the bed. Nilesy pushed away from her desk in time for Panda to tumble into his lap.

Zoey heard their laughter as she scolded, "Rythian Ender, you utter idiot. Lalna has put up with you as long as I have and despite all the fights you decide to get in you two have always been there for each other. If Lalna thought you were boring, it wouldn't really matter because he still loves you."

"Your right, your right," Rythian drew after a minute. She heard the sound of his mothers car, it was much too cold for the motorcycle this time of year, turning off. "Hey, Z, I gotta go because I'm there."

"Okay. Have a good date, okay?"

"Yeah. I love you, Zoey."

"I love you too Rythian," she answered, looking at Panda and Nilesy. The two boys hadn't moved away from each other, Panda looking up at him at an odd angle as Nilesy spoke.   
It wasn't that she didn't love them, that she didn't love all the other Yogs and that they were all her very best friends, but she'd always been closest with Rythian the same way Panda and Nilesy were or Sjin and Sips or Lomadia and Lalna.   
She was happy for Rythian and Lalna too, had spent months plotting with Xephos, she just missed him a lot.

* * *

"You are a fucking idiot."

Toby huffed at the words, "Rude, Martyn."

Martyn shook his head as he looked around the snow covered forest, "We're literally in the middle of no where with no cell service or a fucking map because you just let the wind take it! God your fucking useless Toby."

Toby's chest panged. Straightening up, he shoved his hands in his pockets, "Whatever, Martyn." He made his way back over to the car, leaving Sparkles and Martyn alone.

"Tobs," Strippin's voice was soft when Toby reached him.

Toby managed a weak smile in the athlete's direction when he saw him leaned against the car. Softly, he said, "Looks like I messed up again. Sorry, Strip, this whole trip was for you and I fucked it up."

"Don't be an idiot," Strippin answered, rolling his eyes. "I didn't even want to go the hot springs but you guys insisted it would be good for me since my arms been in a cast for five months."

Toby didn't say anything, his head still buzzing with Martyn's words. Strippin must have picked up on it because he added on, "You know he didn't mean that, right? It's just the winter."

"I know," Toby answered after a moment, blowing his bangs out of his face. "I know he doesn't mean it and I know I'm not the only one he's being a jerk too and I know it's just worse this year because his mother thinks she can leave him in the snow for three hours when he was seven and then come back nine years later thinking everything is okay. Thinking that we haven't dealt with Martyn acting like a fucking bastard every winter because of her but-" He could feel tears stinging at his eyes, "But I don't understand why it feels like he's so much of a bigger jerk to me."

"Because he is," Strippin stated.

Toby felt the others arms coming around him, strong and familiar. He buried his face in Strippin's chest, the same way he'd done with all of his friends since they were small, and grumbled against him, "You're not helping any."

"I am. Being held has been the quickest way to make you feel better since we were five," Strippin answered. Toby felt Strippin adjusting, resting his chin on the top of Toby's head. After a minute he restarted his earlier sentence, "You're right that he's worse in the winter with you, Toby, but it's only because you're the only one willing to keep pushing him. Treating him the same you always do despite the rest of tiptoeing around him."

"I'm an idiot," Toby sniffled, trying to resist the way he could feel his spirits lifting.

"You are," Strippin agreed, "but we all love you and Martyn loves you, even if Winter makes him a horrible friend."

"I dont wanna share a hotel room with him tonight. He's a meanie."

Strippin chuckled a bit, "Only you would use the word meanie after he calls you worthless." He patted Toby on the back as he saw Martyn and Sparkles coming back towards them, "Sparkles and you switch rooms. You can stay with me."

Toby sighed as he pulled away from Strippin, "Thanks."

"Anytime, Tobs."

* * *

Hearing the bell above the door go off, Minty looked up from her magazine saying, "Welcome to the Captive Creeper Coffee shop. What can I get you?"

"I don't think I've ever heard you ask us what we wanted to drink before," Sparkles laughed.

Minty waved at the rest of Area 11 as they walked to the stage before answering him, "I don't need to ask you when I know. Double Chocolate Latte with strawberry shavings but on show nights you get ice water and I slip a strawberry on it even though I'm not supposed to."

"My kingdom to a barista," he drawled, leaning against the counter as she turned around to set about making his drink.

"I don't need your kingdom when my parents own the cafe." As she moved towards the freezer for ice cubes, "Do the rest of the guys want anything?"

"No, but can you add a cupcake for Parv?"

"Displays are open. Just hop around the counter and grab one."

He hummed as he did as she said, choosing to climb over the counter rather then using the saloon style doors at the side. "So you're coming to game night right?"

"Obviously," Minty answered rolling her eyes even though he couldn't see the gesture. "Missing game night without a fever is taboo. Remember that time Lalna filled my shoes with itching powder in fourth grade because I was helping out here and hadn't told anyone?"

He chuckled at the memory before going on, "Anyway, I've been told to pick someone I don't usually play with as my partner so wanna pair up?"

She let out a soft oh as she turned around, handing him his cup, "Sure. It's at Zoey's house this week, yeah?"

"Yup."

"Yo! Sparkles come on," Leo shouted from the stage. "Help setting up the equipment would be appreciated."

"Coming!" Sparkles shouted over his shoulder. He ruffled her hair before hopping back over the counter. He walked backward for a minute, "Book us for the outdoor stage next weekend, yeah?"

"It's not that warm yet!" Minty replied, shaking her head.

"It will be! I can feel it in my bones, Mint!"

"You're gonna feel it in your bones when you get pneumonia!"

"But you'll do it?"

"I guess you idiot."

He let out a whoop as he turned, calling over his shoulder, "Prepare yourself Minty. We're gonna rock tonight."

Minty could already see the crowd of Area 11 fans, to many people to fit into the coffee shop comfortably but all in love with the band enough to buy a cup of coffee and deal with it, making their way down the street when she answered, "You better, Sparkles."

 


	3. Here Comes the Sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Martyn's mother is an asshole but thats okay because Lomadia's mother is an angel, Lalna and Teep have a serious talk about the accident, Nilesy swallows his fears for Panda, and Lomadia can't resist Zoey's smile [but really who can?].

**Here Comes the Sun**

* * *

Martyn sighed as he walked out of the house, a scowl on his face. 

His arm stung where his mother had grabbed him, her grip too tight and her voice too sweet as she spoke. He wished he had been able to find it in him to listen to her but every time he looked at her memories of freezing cold snow and being bundled in his spring jacket waiting for mommy to come back even though she never did flashed into his mind. 

He wondered why his father had let her come back. 

“Martyn!” The blonde turned in time to see Xephos running down the street. Honeydew followed behind him. Between the shape their bodies were in and the backpacks full of textbooks on their back, the two boys were panting and out of breath by the time they reached him. Despite gasping for breath, Xephos managed to get a smile onto his face and choke out the words, “How are you feeling? The last of the snow melted last night, you know?”

Martyn rubbed at the back of his neck nervously, “I’m feeling okay. Not quite my usual self but that has more to do with the bruises on my body then anything to do with the weather.”

Honeydew chewed on his lip, “Martyn, my mother did tell you to come over any-“

He shook his head, “No. I can handle it just - I don’t remember what happened this winter per usual. How bad was I?”

The two boys in front of him exchanged glances before Xephos spoke, soft and slow, “Martyn you weren’t…You weren’t worse then usual with most of us but…”

“But?” he quirked an eyebrow, his heart drumming in his chest. He hated doing this. Hated hearing about all the terrible things he’d done to his friends in the winter when they’d been playing with snowballs and building snowman. Hated seeing the way Strippin kept Benji at a distance for a week after the snow finally melted and Ridge and Sips always with him somewhere in case the anger was going to lash out. It was, to be honest, a miracle no one had put him in some kind of asylum yet. “‘Phos, what’s the but?”

“Toby…You were really bad with Toby,” Honeydew murmured after a moment. “You called him…You would call him worthless and no good and it wasn’t teasing when you called him a girl. You actually got into a fight with him.”

“W-What?”

It felt to Martyn as though the whole world stopped turning. Toby had told him once, when fall was ending and winter was closing in, that he would stay with Martyn in the winters but…but now he was getting hurt and Martyn didn’t want that. He never wanted to be the reason Toby’s body ached or the reason he cried. 

“Fuck,” Martyn let out softly. “How am I supposed to make this up to him?”

“I don’t think you can. You can’t just make up something like that,” Xephos declared as they began walking. “But Toby, and all the rest of us, absolutely love you. Just apologize and then move on.”

“Why don’t you all hate me yet?”

Honeydew clapped him on the shoulder, “Because we’ve knew you before and we know that isn’t you.”

“Hey guys!” Lomadia’s voice chimed as they reached her house. The trio stopped to find her leaning out over her porch. Her blonde hair fell around her shoulders with her usual green hat on top while she wore denim shorts and a neon orange tee-shirt with swooping letters Martyn couldn’t read from the road. “Come in for a sec. My mom got doughnuts for breakfast and she told me I had to share with you all!”

“Why are you wearing shorts you crazy girl?” Xephos questioned, as he led the way up her walk. Martyn trudged after Honeydew, his spirits still sunk. “Just because the snows gone doesn’t mean it’s warm outside. 

Ducking forward she pressed her lips quick to his. She held onto his arms when she pulled away, their faces close as she dissolved into soft giggles, “I’ll wear my shorts if I want to, crazy boy.”

“What are you kids doing?” Lomadia’s mothers voice was as soft as always, ringing in Martyn’s ears with undertones of amusement at her daughter. “If you don’t hurry in here to grab your food, you really will be late.”

“Sorry Mama!” Lomadia apologized. 

Xephos followed with a nod, “Sorry, Mrs. Owlette.”

“Darling, we’ve had this conversation you may all call me Mom. I’ve helped most of your parents bathe you all before.” She let out a giggle of her own as she ushered them forward, “Come on. In to the kitchen. Grab a doughnut and something to drink before you head down to pick up Lalna and Teep.”

They all let out a “Yes ma’am” as they filed into her house. 

Martyn was the last to reach her and when he did, she grabbed his arm to stop him. For a second he feared he might have done something to Lomadia during the winter but instead Mrs. Owlette reached up to tuck some of his bangs into his headband. Fondly she sighed, “I’ve told you time and time again that if you insist on wearing this thing you should at least wear it right, Martyn.” 

“Yes Ma’am,” he mumbled, feeling his cheeks heat as he looked at the ground. She, and all the other parents, had always treated him, all of Lomadia’s friends really, like one of her own children. 

“Darling,” she murmured as she tugged on the last string before fixing it, “I don’t agree with what your father is doing at all. In fact none of us really think what Mark is doing is right and you can always come to us you realize? No matter what she may say to make you think otherwise.”

“I know,” Martyn answered. 

She looked at him for a minute before patting his cheek, “Okay. Go grab a doughnut. I’m sure the others are waiting for you.”

* * *

Lalna scratched at his scalp as he came stumbling out of his lab and into the game room. Back when they were kids his parents had divided the basement into three rooms for them, putting Lalna’s lab on the far left and Teep’s shooting range. In the center was the game room. 

“What are you doing?” he questioned, spotting Teep sitting at the table in the game room. His brother looked up from the thing in his hand before lifting it. Lalna blinked several times as he looked at the barrel of the shotgun. “Don’t point that at me, idiot.”

Teep rolled his eyes putting the gun back down in order to lift his hand. 

[It’s not even together. I’m cleaning it so I don’t blow my brains out when I take Zoey shooting this weekend.]

Lalna raised an eyebrow as he strolled over, taking the seat across from him. “Rythian approved her shooting guns?”

[You do realize she doesn’t consult him on everything right?] 

Lalna gave him a look before saying, “Teep. He’s my boyfriend don’t bullshit me about their relationship. I hear all the details.”

Teep’s body shook with a soundless laugh before he signed, [Anyone outside our friends would I assume you were the best friend and she was the girlfriend.]

The image brought a small smile to Lalna’s face as he answered, “Most people don’t share all of their friends with their little brother. Besides, I have the marks to prove he’s my boyfriend.” 

Teep made a face, flicking his middle finger up at him. They went silent afterwards, neither Teep’s hands over Lalna’s lips moving. Lalna watched as the younger blonde’s hands moved to polish the snapped apart pieces of the gun. After a minute he murmured, “Hey Teep?”

His brother looked up, looking at him and waiting for him to continue. 

“Do you…” he ran his tongue across his lips nervously. “Do you hate me? For what I to your-” he made an aborted move towards his throat. 

Teep’s eyebrows knitted together before he signed [What brought this up?]

“It’s not a new thing,” Lalna admitted. “Every time I watch you do this kind of stuff, I can’t help wondering if it would be different if I hadn’t…if I hadn’t messed up that day. Would you hum when your cleaning and would your voice have dropped lower then mine? Would you even like guns still? Would Benji still have taught you morse code?”

Teep’s chest heaved - a sigh Lalna recognized. His hands moved rapidly as he answered [One: you are not responsible for my love of guns. Don’t be an egotistical bastard.] His face softened as he paused before saying [and two: of course I don’t hate you Lal. You’re my big brother. I’ve looked up to you since we were small.]

“But I ruined your voice,” Lalna squeaked out. “I fucked up and you lost it.”

[We were five and six] Teep frowned. [If anything it was Dad’s fault for taking us to work with him. We would have been safer with mom at the call center but we wanted to go to the lab with him. He agreed. I don’t blame either of you. It’s not like you stabbed me in the vocal cords either, I got scared and it just went away.] He reached across the table, wiping a smudge of something off Lalna’s cheek. He flashed it at Lalna before going on [And this. Do you blame me for this?]

Confusion set in over the heavy weight in Lalna’s chest, “What? Do I blame you for a smudge of grease?”

Teep shook his head. [Do you blame me for being the reason you work so hard?] Lalna went to interrupt him but Teep shook his head and kept going on [Don’t lie to me, Lalna. I’m the one of two people you can’t do that with and you know it. I know the reason you work so hard is because you don’t want something like this to happen again.]

Lalna pursed his lips before releasing a breath. After a moment he shook his head, “That may be one of the reasons I started but it’s not anymore. I do things like this because I like science.”

[You like art too and when was the last time you spent three days without sleeping trying to finish a piece?]

“That’s not it. Art is a hobby for me. Maybe in another life, another world, it could have been my career but what happened to you is the reason I started loving science more.” He gestured over to his lab, “I wanted that because I wanted to make sure no one else got hurt like you but then the more I did it the more it became something else. I want people to be safe yes, but I don’t want to be the person who tries to cure something. I want to be the person who builds the robot that takes your thoughts and gives it a voice because you can’t speak or who builds a robot arm for the soldier who gets it knocked off in a nuke that reacts just like his real one.” His fists clenched tightly before he let them go, “I don’t want to fix something with chemicals that will only hurt someone more, I want to help people adapt to the things they already have.”

Teep ran his tongue across his lips, [Okay.] There was nothing for a minute before added [Go take a shower please. You smell like ass.]

Lalna let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. He pushed a hand through his hair as he stood up, “I do not, I took one after school before crawling down here. Why do you know what ass smells like anyway, sicko.”

[Says the gay one who admitted five minutes ago to having fucked someone before] Lalna threw his head back and laughed as he turned away and walked up the stairs. He didn’t have to be looking to know Teep would be signing [Checkmate]. 

* * *

Nilesy was lying on his bed, on his back and holding a comic book above his head, when his door slammed open. He rolled over and off just in time for Panda to flop onto the bed with a scream. 

He bounced quickly from his stomach and repositioned himself. He raised his eyebrows when he had situated himself, on his knees with his arms crossed on top of his bed and his chin on top of them, only for Panda to scream into his pillows and kick his feet. 

“I don’t know what to ask about first,” he mused after a minute. “Why you thought it was a good idea to slobber on my pillows or what’s got you having a tantrum like a five year old?”

“Shut up,” Panda screamed into the pillow. “I’m not acting like a five year old poopoo head.”

“You just called me a poopoo head!” Nilesy objected. 

Panda turned his head, his cheek smushing against the pillow, and glared at Nilesy, “Shuddup.”

Nilesy smiled, reaching across to poke at Panda’s cheeks. The boy let out a pathetic huff in an effort to blow it away with his breath. “Come on. Tell me what’s going on, dum-dum.”

“I’m just bored!” Panda exclaimed. “It’s three days into Spring Break and I’ve done nothing but sit around sleeping until twelve and then sitting around playing games with one person or another. I wanna do something!”

“We can do something,” Nilesy drawled. 

Panda looked at him for a minute before throwing himself up. He bounced on the mattress for a minute, moving so he was on his stomach with his legs hanging off the opposite side of the bed from Nilesy. 

“Like what?” Panda questioned, folding his arms in front of him as well and resting his chin on them. He shivered when he felt Panda’s breath on his face, not out of discomfort because they were both touchy and excitable people and he was far too used to this kind of thing but out of surprise. 

“We could take your dogs for a walk?”

“I do that all the time anyway.”

Nilesy hummed, nodding. “We could go see a movie in the theater?”

“Nothing good is out.”

Nilesy sighed, “Panda I can’t come up with something for us to do if you shoot down all my ideas. Is there something in particular you want to do.”

Panda pursed his lips, looking up at the ceiling for a minute before a grin spread across his face, “I know!” He quirked an eyebrow, waiting for him to go on. “Paranormal Activity marathon! We can invite everyone to my house and use the projecter!”

A shiver ran down Nilesy spine, “Panda I don’t wanna watch anything scary.”

“You promise you would watch all four of them with me!” Panda exclaimed. “I distinctly remember that conversation, Niles. Zoey will be there too probably and she’s not much better then you with scary stuff!” 

Nilesy, unfortunately, remembered that conversation with startling clarity. He also knew that a bored Panda would turn out to be a disaster for him, especially during a break considering they lived only just across the street from each other. 

“Fine,” he sighed after a minute. “Lets walk down to everyone’s houses though. Something tells me you haven’t actually left your room in three days since I haven’t physically seen you until today.”

Panda let out a soft ‘Pssh’ sound, waving his hand absently. “I totally left my bedroom before now.”

“The bathroom and kitchen do not count,” Nilesy corrected his friend. The way Panda’s smile dropped made him sigh. “Knew it. Go home and change out of your pajama pants then we’ll walk up the street to Sips place.”

“Okay!”

Nilesy moved to his window as Panda bounded out of his bedroom, waiting until he saw the boy leave his house and go into his own before stripping off his clothes. 

Exchanging them for jeans and a tee-shirt, he resigned himself for a day of walking (despite Lalna being the farthest away at only thirty minutes by foot) and a night of scares as he searched for his tennis shoes. 

* * *

Lomadia blew a strand of hair from her face as she stepped into Zoey’s back yard. 

“Z,” she drawled, approaching the red fencing Zoey was in. “Your mom had me bring snacks out.”

“‘Madia!” Zoey exclaimed, straightening up. She took the tray from her hands with a wide smile, taking it to the plastic table in the center of the fencing.  

Lomadia followed after her, taking in the streaks of dirt on her friends face and the gloves on her hands. She glanced around at the ground before saying, “Is it time to plant then?”

“Yes,” Zoey answered with a wide smile. Lomadia followed her lead and settled into one of the chairs that went with the table. “My dad took me to get the seeds for it last week and I’m starting today while he’s at work.”

“Should I go home then?” Lomadia questioned. “I know gardening is something you’ve always done with him.”

Zoey waved a hand absently, “It’s fine. I haven’t seen you a lot outside of school recently.”

Lomadia smiled a bit as she reached for a biscuit, “Sorry about that. I’ve been hanging around Xephos and Honeydew.”

“I get it. Boyfriend and stuff,” Zoey drawled. They fell into a silence before she added, “Do you want to stay and help me then?”

Lomadia hesitated, “I don’t want to mess anything up…” 

Zoey shook her head, “You won’t! It will be fun I promise.”

Lomadia looked down at her outfit before nodding, “Okay but only if I can borrow some play clothes from you.”

“Great!” Zoey cheered, jumping to her feet. Lomadia let out a small screech as she was pulled to her feet and lead out of the garden towards the house. “We’ll have lots of fun, I promise!”

“My biscuit!” Lomadia mourned. 

“Come on, Lo. Who has time for snacks when there’s gardening to do!”o

“You weren’t saying that when I got here…” Lomadia huffed, irritated at the loss of her snack. Despite her words, a smile threatened her lips. 

It was nearly impossible not to be happy around Zoey, especially when she was so happy to be around you. 


	4. Summer Nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ridge confronts Sips, Panda and Minty splashing in the sun, Sparkles frets over something very minor regarding his plans, Benji sneaks into his own house, and Rythian ends the story with some lovely friendship.

**Summer Nights**

* * *

"Hey." Sips looked up, craning his neck back to see Ridgedog. The taller teen peered down at him, his arms crossed over his chest. "What's the score?"

Lucia had run off almost as soon as they arrived to play with the other young kids at the schools playground and his mother hadn't been able to come since her shift at her second job had started at the same time. It left Sips, and now Ridge, sitting in the heat alone with the blanket and grass sticking to the sweat on the bottom of his legs. He glanced back at the field where the elder of his younger sisters stood on the softball field before saying, "3-5 in the third against them. Uthgerd thinks they can bring it back."

"I'm sure they can," Ridge drawled as he flopped down with him. Ridge leaned back on his palms, silent for a minute before saying, "So, are you ready to talk about Sjin yet?"

"Nope," Sips answered, rubbing a hand over his nose. "Might as well hop right back on your bike and go home if you think we're doing this, you bastard."

"Don't deflect," Ridge sneered, reaching over to slap at Sips arm. Neither boy looked at each other. "I'm not going back home until we talk about this. Sips, do something about it already and stop being an idiot. He knows somethings up - he's been asking all of us about it since Fall - so just tell him your in love with him and get it over with."

Sips sneered back, "Some of us aren't big enough psychopaths to want to lose our best friends over some silly crush."

Ridgedog chose to ignore the jibe. He brought his knees up to his chest, resting his cheek on them and turning to face him for the first time in their conversation. He had to brush his bangs from his eyes quickly before saying, "A  
silly crush?"

He was quiet for a minute, watching as a ball went sailing, before murmuring, "It's easier if I convince myself that's all it is."

"Wouldn't it be easiest to be with him?"

"Even you can't be sure he wouldn't turn me down flat."

"Your right. But at the very least, I can tell you he wouldn't hate you."

"But it wouldn't be the same," Sips pointed out. He chuckled a bit before adding, "It wouldn't Big Money, Big Women, Big Fun."

Ridge rolled his eyes, "More like Big Idiots, Small Dicks, and Heartbreak."

Sips threw his head back, laughing as he punched Ridge's arm, "Real funny asshole."

"I'm well aware of how funny I am, thanks." Ridge glanced around, licking his lips before standing up, "Come on. I wanna grab a Walking Taco before your sister starts batting. It's gonna get all over my coat when I'm cheering."

"You could go home," Sips replied, rolling his eyes. Despite his words, he was climbing to his feet and making a hand motion to tell Uthegerd where he was going."

"Nah," Ridge drawled, smiling as he slung an arm around his friends shoulder, "I'm pretty okay with messing with you for the next hour."

* * *

The night air felt cool against their skin as Sparkles and Xephos sat on the swings. The elementary's playground was silent other then the creaking of the seats they sat on and the only light came from the street lights above.

Sparkles gripped the swing tightly, his feet sinking into the woodchips below as he pushed off them, as he said, "So when do you leave for science camp?"

"Next Thursday," Xephos answered. "When do you leave for Asia?"

"Monday morning," Sparkles said after a pause. "I still haven't told the others."

"Sparkles," Xephos chided, "you can't just leave without telling anyone where you are going. They'd worry about you all summer."

"Well, you would be there to tell them," Sparkles murmured. "You could just do it for me." He didn't have to look to know what the look on Xephos face was. He sighed, pushing his bangs out of his face, "I know I have to tell them okay? I'm just worried their gonna get pissed off at me for leaving this summer. We've only got one more after this until college."

"You don't see them getting upset over Lal and I going to camp now do you?" Xephos pointed out. "Besides that, I don't think college will change us much. High school should have torn us apart considering all the things we went through but we're still friends. All of us walk to school together every morning and we get together every weekend."

Sparkles sighed, "I know, I know. It's hard not to worry though when we've spent the past like sixteen summers of our lives together with the exception of a month for you and Lalna to go to camp."

Xephos hummed, nodding to himself. After a minute he said, "I can't make you worry any less but just know, it doesn't matter whether it's Science Camp or Asia on a trip to see different kinds of music or College, we're your family and we're going to be there for you."

Sparkles found it hard to be so insecure when Xephos put it so bluntly.

* * *

"Geronimo!" Panda screamed as he flipped off the diving board into the pool. There was a scream as he hit the water. He resurfaced laughing only for hands to shove him right back down. This time when he popped above the water, he shook his hair out before shouting, "Rude! That was rude, Nilesy!"

"Your face is rude," Nilesy grumbled, swimming down to the other side of the pool.

"Don't be a bully Nilesy!" Minty shouted, laughing as she floated.

"Ah," Panda sighed, swimming over to her. He propped his chin up on her inner tube, the way the sun reflected on the neon blue blinding him for a minute, before saying, "So Little Miss, who invited you to our private pool party?"

"Myself," she answered, turning to look at him, "when I saw you two trooping out here in your swimming trunks from my bedroom window. Anyone else coming?"

"Right before you got here Nilesy sent out a mass text telling everyone my mom had finally uncovered the pool. You must have left your phone in your room?"

"Yup." Minty wiggled around, slipping her body through the tube and emerging next to him with a grin. "Nothing short of a police officer dragging my body out will get me to leave this pool today."

Panda laughed as he kicked away from her, "I don't think anyone will be very happy if you get my pool closed with your dead body."

Minty giggled, "We could always go to Lalna instead."

"As if. There's a reason we don't swim over there Mint. Who knows what Lalna's done to that pool."

* * *

Benji crept through the house, trying to make as little noise as possible as he walked through the upstairs hallway. Just as his hand touched his bedroom door, the lights of the hallway flickered on and Strippin drawled, "Really, Benji, if your going to sneak in at least learn not to stomp around."

Benji's face heated red as he turned around.   
Strippin was leaning in the doorway to his own room, his shirt discarded but he was still in his jeans so he obviously hadn't been asleep, with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I wasn't that loud," Benji objected.

Strippin rolled his eyes but didn't object. Instead he said, "How was your date?"

"Date? What date?" Benji laughed nervously.

"Benji, come on," Strippin sighed. "I'm your brother and we spend almost every day together. I'm not gonna kick your ass for having a boyfriend like mom or dad would with their "School comes before everything else!" attitudes."

Benji gave a tiny smile before his hands dropped, his fingers looping nervously through his belt loops, "It was fun. We went Glow in the Dark Mini Golfing at that place near the park and then messed around at their arcade a bit before grabbing a bite to eat."

"And you were out until twelve o'clock just doing that?" Strippin questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Benji coughed, "It was a long game of mini golf."

"It was a long something that's for sure," Strippin murmured.

"Oh shut up!" Benji snapped, feeling himself blush all over. "Go back to your room you...you loser."

Strippin threw his head back, laughing at the insult. He reached across the hallway and ruffled Benji's hair, "Whatever you say squirt." Benji was about to step into his own room when he heard Strippin call his name. When he looked back Strippin was peering out of his doorway, his smile having dropped to one more low key and content as he said, "I'm glad your happy."  
  
Benji thought about the way Strippin's eyes still shadowed when he saw Toby and Martyn together and Strippin's aborted motions to hold Toby's hands when they walked to closely to each other.   
He murmured to a closed door, "I wish you were too..."

* * *

Rythian had his eyes closed, lounging in the tree house when he heard the trap door open. The scent of stewed mushrooms and too many flowers filled the room, giving away who it was even before she spoke.

Her footsteps were light against the wood as she moved towards him, nudging his legs apart so she could fit between them. She didn't say a word when she laid her head against his chest, him lifting one of his hands to play with her hair the way he knew she loved.

It was easy for them to sit in the silence like this despite how much she usually spoke, be it to him or to one of their other friends. He couldn't remember a time in his life where Zoey had been anything other then his sister, best friend, and closest confident.

"You know," he murmured after a moment, "if things had gone differently, we would probably be together right now."

"We are together," she answered as he twirled her curls around his finger.

"You know that's not what I meant." He used his other hand to flick her cheek, "Silly girl."

She hummed. Her quietness was testament to how much their day at the theme park with their friends had worn her out, constantly talking and bouncing around on her feet. "I'm glad it turned out like this. We're besties from the nesties."

Rythian chuckled at the term she'd used to describe their friendship since they were little. He cracked his eyes open slightly, looking at her in the glow of the moon light streaming through the tree house window.

He wondered how differently things would have been if he was in love with her instead of Lalna.   
Would the hate between him and the blonde when they were kids have grown to something more serious? Would he have listened to her and Teep when they had made the big push for him to interact more with their other friends in sixth grade?  
Rythian sighed, feeling her breath even out against his tee-shirt.

He nodded to himself quietly, he was okay with the way things were.   
He was okay with movie nights on Wednesdays with Zoey and dates with Lalna on Saturdays. He was okay with crowding a giant pool with eighteen people or living rooms with way to much body heat for a summer night.   
He was okay with screaming picnics and taking up three benches at a sports game.

They were silly and crazy in more ways then one, but they were his family and no matter what season it was he loved them all.


End file.
